In the white-knuckle follow-up to her explosive debut novel,The Fixer, T. E. Woods returns with another tense, intricate thriller.What do you say, Morton Grant, Chief of Detectives? You got what it takes to find me? Show me a move. . . . Or I’ll have to show you one of mine.A little more than a year after the Fixer killings, Detective Mort Grant of the Seattle P.D. once again has his hands full. In the last four months, seven men have been murdered in seedy pay-by-the-hour motels: first strangled, then tied with rope and set on a bed of crushed mothballs, with a red lipstick kiss planted on their foreheads. Speculation abounds that the killer is a prostitute who’s turning her tricks into dead men. The press has taken to calling her “Trixie.”As Mort follows scant leads in the case, he can’t help but feel continued guilt over his involvement with the Fixer. Though the public holds her up as a folk hero, a vigilante who seeks justice when the system fails, Mort cannot shake the fact that serious crimes have been committed. And though legend says she has vanished, Mort knows exactly where the Fixer is—and he’s conspiring to keep her hidden.As Trixie strikes again, Mort suddenly finds himself and his family in the crosshairs. Because these new murders are not random, and their perpetrator is hell-bent on luring Mort into a sick and twisted game. If he’s not careful, he’s going to need Fixing.

Even though I enjoyed it it just didn’t seem to hold up to the first book as much as I would have like it too.

What’s it about

The Red Hot Fix is the second book in the Mort Grant series and it has a couple of story lines weaved into it. I am trying to find a way to talk about it without doing to much of a spoiler, so bare with me.

Mort Grant and his team are on the trail of a new killer. Trixie is going around as a prostitute and picking up guys to kill. Mort ask for some help from a lady who is involved with helping women who have been prostitutes. Trying to get a prospective of who might be doing the killing and why.

Meanwhile, we get to know about Vogel and his entourage, he is the owner of a basketball team among other things. He has a wife and a mistress and treats his son horribly, over all he is not a nice man. I really got confused for a while why we were getting this story line but it gets wrapped up nicely.

Then there is the fixer and she is trying to move on with her life, but things are complicated. She meets a young girl who brings out the protectiveness in her and the fixer. The fixer is still on friendly terms with Mort and looks out for him and it’s a good thing because Trixie is gunning for Mort.

So there are those three different story lines going on and I guess at sometimes I thought all the second story line took a lot away from the others and I could have done without a lot of the basketball scenes.

Reasons why you might like The Red Hot Fix

Mort Grant is a very complex character. His wife has been dead for three years and he is still in love with her so it’s hard for him to connect with another woman. It comes on a lot in this book as he has a decent woman who likes him but it feels like betrayal. His son is very successful but his daughter is a bit of a handful and we find out exactly where she is in this book. He is far from being a perfect character and this makes him feel more human which I like.

The Fixer, if you have read the first one then you will know who she is and how flawed she is but it makes her a great character as well. She had a rough childhood and grew into an assassin for hire but she only kills those she seems worth of the kill. In other words they have to have done something really bad, if not she will set them up and then turn them over to the police. You really get to see her protective side in this book.

It’s a crime novel, what is not to like about that. It’s not to procedural or hard core but it’s not by any means cozy. It’s to me is right in the middle and reminds me of the crime dramas on TV. It doesn’t bore you or gore you with to much detail. (Well, except maybe to many details about the Basketball industry)

Final thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed this novel, but I think just like a lot of second novels it feel a bit short of the first novel. I do think it’s worth reading if you like crime novels but I would start with The Fixer. I have the next one in the series coming up for review shortly so I can’t wait to see how the third one will go.

2 Responses to “Review of The Red Hot Fix|Coyer review”

I’m intrigued – and I’m not gonna lie that cover made me seriously curious. I don’t know if I hate it or like it, but I’m interested LOL. I really like complex characters, though so that’s what really drawing me. I’m not a big fan of crime b/c of the procedural elements, but if they aren’t too strong (like you said) I can seriously love crime books. Great review!

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